


Never seen the rain

by Multifandom_damnation



Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Best Friends, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Jason-Centric, Possible Character Death, Protectiveness, Team Dynamics, Team as Family, Texting, Touch-Starved, Zack Taylor Loves His Mum, the tags are shit but zacks mum is in hospital and zack turns to jason for love and support
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-17 14:30:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21055955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multifandom_damnation/pseuds/Multifandom_damnation
Summary: Hey, Zack's random mid-day private message read, I won’t be at training tonight. Mum’s not doing well. I’ll have to make it up to you another time.And Jason wasn't really sure what was going on or how he thought he could help, but he'll be damned if he just sits back and watches one of his teammates suffer in silence when Jason knew damn well that he could have done something. So he does everything he can, and when everything is over, all said and done, he knows that soon the rest of their family would be back to fill in the blank spaces of Zach's heart that Jason hadn't managed to fill alone.





	Never seen the rain

**Author's Note:**

> This is MUCH longer than I wanted it to be, but I thought this was one of those fic's that you really don't want to skip on the details with. This really isnt' as deep as the tags make it sound, so for those of you who are worried about what happens, Zack's mum doesn't die, Jason is a good friend and loves them very much and Zack is afraid of losing the people he cares about. There ya go.
> 
> But really, if you have any questions about this stupid little fic just give me a holler, and let me know what you think while you're at it. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Jason was all about contact- the high-fives and hand-shakes and pulling people in for a hug by the shoulders.

He didn’t get much contact from his parents- that’s not the kind of family they were. They were all about subtle nods and looks of encouragement and blowing kisses from across the room so nobody else could see. Pearl, however, made up from the lack of contact from the rest of their family in leaps and bounds- she always had her hand in his or her arms wrapped around his waist or her head on his chest. She was young, and she didn’t understand the ‘no touching’ rule their family had subconsciously implemented, but she would, in time. Jason hoped she never did, but he knew that it was evitable.

Being with the Rangers helped satisfy his craving for touch. Even Billy, who didn’t like contact at the best of times, could deal with it if he was the one to initiate it. Extending a hand for a hand-shake or reaching out an arm for a hug was a great effort for him, one that Jason appreciated and didn’t take litley. And besides, Billy gave the best hugs.

Sometimes, Kim would reach over and brush his hair out of his face or Zack would shove him good-naturedly and ruffle his hair really hard or Trini would lean against him and rest her whole body weight on him, but no matter what, they were willing to provide him with the touch he so desperately needed.

He loved them. He loved them all. He would live and breathe for them, and he knew, no matter what, that they all felt the same way.

Spending time with them was the highlight of Jason’s day, even if it was during a Saturday detention. Even Zack, who never came to school, managed to slide in there with them and act as though he was always supposed to be there, claiming that the teacher ‘missed his name on the roll’ and that ‘his dog at his homework’. The teacher was always just so disgruntled at that point by all the delinquents he had already dealt with that he just let Zach get away with it. Trini came too, but she didn’t even bother offering up an excuse, she just glared at the teacher until he moved on and forgot she was there at all.

They had bonded so well lately that now Jason finally thought of them as a team and not just a group of people who suddenly had superpowers. They were a unit, a team, a family through and through.

But regardless of how much Jason craved their touch and love and attention, and despite how much he needed them in his life, he couldn’t forget how much and how often they needed him in return and right now, it was Zack who needed him more than anyone else.

He was just lounging in bed after getting home a few hours ago, waiting for the right time to head to the ship for training when he received a message from Zack. _Hey_, it read, _I won’t be at training tonight. Mum’s not doing well. I’ll have to make it up to you another time._

It honestly took Jason a few seconds longer than it should have to compute. But when it did, he felt his stomach bottom out and suddenly his heart was in his chest. He went through his phone until he found the one chat thread he had with the rest of the Power Rangers, labelled only as five different coloured hearts (red, blue, pink, yellow, black), and sent a message through with distantly shaking fingers but a determined mind. _No training tonight, guys,_ he sent, _take the day off. We’ll rejoin tomorrow_

_Zordon isn’t going to be happy about that,_ came Kim’s instant reply.

_Who’s the leader of this team, me or Zordon? _Jason sent back. _He can yell and scream all he likes, but he’s just a face in the wall. I call the shots, not him._

_Woah,_ came Trini’s message. _I like this new Jason. Where was he when we were facing Rita?_

_I think there’s a joke here that I’m missing, _Billy’s reply came through._ Is there really no training or is this an inside joke or a prank?_

_No, really no training, _Jason said_, take the day off. You all deserve it. Besides, one day of missed training isn’t going to kill us, right?_

_Zordon will say differently, _said Kim.

_Screw Zordon, _Jason sent_. One day. It’s just one day! Take today off. That’s an order._

_Aye Aye, captain! _Was Trini’s last reply before she logged off. Billy was soon to follow.

Kim stayed on a little longer than the others, and sent through a final, definite, _Is everything ok, Jason?_

_Yeah_, he sent back, wanting to slam his face repeatedly into the nearest wall. _All good. See you tomorrow._

Then Kim was gone, and Jason was on the chat alone. Well, more or less alone. Zack’s little icon had gone past all the messages telling Jason that he had been reading them, but he stayed very quiet and didn’t reply in the slightest. Jason got dressed, threw on his jacket, and made his way down the stairs, out the door, and towards the Angle Grove Mobile Home Park.

It was cold, and he had to shove his hands in his jacket pockets to keep his fingers from freezing completely. He could feel the chill through his multiple layers, and he was dimly aware that the jacket was useless overkill. He searched the mobile cars and the trailers for something that resembled Zack, which was stupid if he really thought about it, but he had never been to the place that Zack and his mother called home, so he didn’t have any direction to go in to start his search.

Just when he was considering knocking on every door in the park until Zack answered the door, he caught sight of someone wearing nothing but a thin black t-shirt out of the corner of his eye and Jason chased after them before he lost sight of them.

A door slammed just as he crested the corner, and Jason rushed up to the trailer before it became lost in the maze of same-looking plain mobile cars. He rushed up to the door and knocked heavily on the door, wincing at the loud sound from inside, “Zack!” he called. “Zack, are you in there? Open up!”

There was a long pause, and then he heard some movement from inside the trailer, and then slowly, so painstakingly slowly, the handle turned and the door swung inwards. Zack stood there in jeans and a shirt, skin clammy and flushed, eyes puffy and red as if he’d been crying. They glistened with unshed tears and his cheeks were wet. He had obviously been crying at some point before Jason had got there. “What do you want, dude? I’m busy.”

“You said that something was wrong with your mum,” Jason said patiently. He didn’t know what it was like to lose a parent, not yet at least, not unlike some of the other Rangers, but he wasn’t an insensitive prick. He understood when people needed to open up about something like this on their own. “So I’m here to make sure you’re alright and see what I can do to help.”

Reluctantly, Zack stepped aside, and Jason entered the motor home. It was smaller than he thought it was. The outside was deceiving. There was no evidence that another person lived there, and other than the many containers of medication lining the open shelving unit, Jason wouldn’t have known that Mr’s Taylor lived there at all. “See?” Zack said, looking to the ground. “Nobody here. Just me. Everything’s fine. You can go now.”

“Zack,” Jason said intently and Zack looked up to meet his leader’s eyes. “You know you can tell me anything, right? And I know when you’re lying.”

Licking his lips, Zack finally said, “She’s not here. I uh... I had to call an ambulance early this morning. She’s at the hospital right now.”

Once again, Jason felt like the floor was falling out beneath him and he was plunging into the deep, dark, bottomless abyss below. Sort of like entering the ship through the secret crevasse, but so much worse, and there wasn’t water at the bottom to break his fall, only sharp jagged stones. “Zack, what the hell? Why didn’t you tell us? We could have been here with you instead of making you go through this by yourself.”

“I did tell you!” Zack defended, but even Jason could tell that his heart wasn’t in it.

“Yeah, you sent me a text saying you wouldn’t make it to training because your mum wasn’t doing well,” Jason said. “You didn’t mention about her being taken to the hospital. Why aren’t you there with her?”

Zack seemed to shrink. “They wouldn’t let me ride with her in the ambulance. And I don’t know how to get there, let alone what room she’s in.”

Jason didn’t even waste time in thinking about it. He turned from Zack and left the tiny motor home, making sure his keys were still in his pocket and hadn’t fallen out after all that running. “Come on,” he called over his shoulder, and after a delayed second or two, he heard Zack following after he had locked the door with his own set of keys he pulled from his pocket.

“Where are we going?” Zack said once he caught up to Jason’s stride.

“I’m driving you to the hospital,” Jason said breezily, not stopping his pace. Beside him, Zack choked on his spit in surprise.

“Jason, what the hell, you don’t have to do that,” Zack protested. He was cut off when Jason turned around and held up his hand to stop him.

Searching for his car amidst the ones in the car park, Jason said, “Don’t be silly. Of course, I’m taking you. She’s your mother for god’s sakes, and what kind of leader would I be if I didn’t at least get you there. Besides, mum and dad got me a new car because of good behaviour or some other stupid reason, so I can take you there legally instead of high-jacking a car and driving through town on a suspended license.”

When they got to Jason’s car, he looked at Zack seriously. “If you don’t get in this car, I’m going to drag you into it kicking and screaming.” He slid into the driver’s seat, and when Zack didn’t move a muscle, Jason leant over and said through the open window, “Get in. That’s an order.”

It was only when Zack slammed the door behind him and put his seatbelt on that Jason hit the gas pedal, and with the sound of screeching tires and scattering gravel, they peeled out of the Motor Home parking lot and onto the road leading back to the centre of Angel Grove.

They didn’t speak the whole way there, but Jason couldn’t stop himself from sneaking worried glances at his friend, who looked half-dead already and was staring at his lap as if he had just seen a ghost.

The bright lights of the hospital building were almost blinding in the darkness of the night. The old building was large and imposing, and Jason knew that while the outside looked like something right out of a horror movie, the inside looked the same, with cleaner and more high-tech facilities than what you saw in movies. He had spent some time there the few days after his accident, and it wasn’t an experience he really wanted to repeat.

Zack was frozen in the seat beside him, his hands shaking in his lap, his wide eyes glued to the windshield. “Zack?” Jason said gently, reaching out slowly and resting a hand on his friend's arm. While Jason himself relished contact, he was learning that not everyone else did. Like Billy, who only accepted contact when initiated by himself. He wasn’t sure how Zack would take it, so he went slowly, and prepared himself to be rejected, but to his surprise, Zack didn’t shove him away. “What is it?”

Licking his lips, Zack turned to face Jason, and Jason felt his heart crack into thousands of tiny, sharp pieces. His cheeks were slick with newly-shed tears and his eyes were red-raw, and Jason wouldn’t have been surprised if Zack had been crying the whole trip through town and was just a master of crying silently in the darkness of the car. “Hey, Zack, come on,” Jason said quietly. It was just them in the safety of the car, almost too close for comfort, their voices loud in the silence. “Talk to me man. How are we supposed to be a team if you won’t tell us when you’re hurting?”

It was almost like Zack was a boiling kettle on the verge of exploding, and he was very close indeed. As if he couldn’t hold it back any more, a tortured, anguish sob wrenched itself from Zack’s chest and he spasmed, reaching out and resting his hands heavily on the dash in such a way that Jason worried slightly that he would put a dent in his new car without meaning to. “I’m scared,” he admitted, his voice barely a whimper and Jason thought that if he took his hands away from the dash he would shake apart. “What if I go in there and she’s... already gone? What if she’s dead and I wasn’t there for her? What if we’re too late? What if...”

Jason smoothly interjected before Zack could work himself up any more. “She won’t be. We aren’t.” He reassured, and he gently ran his hand up and down Zack’s arm. “And if she is... if we are too late, then I’ll be beside you the whole time, and the rest of the team will be here within the hour, and we’ll all be here for you no matter what. Alright?”

Shakily, Zack nodded, and wiped at his running nose, trying to hide the fact that he’d been crying by wiping away the tears on his wet cheeks. He let Jason pry his fingers away from the dashboard, and let Jason heave him out of the car and held his hand all the way through the big glass double-doors and up to the elevator. From Jason’s own experience, he remembered what level the ‘new arrival/intensive care’ unit was, so he pressed the button without asking for input from Zack, and together they waited as the elevator rose.

When the doors finally opened again, Jason led them towards the front desk and only let go of Zack’s hand when he froze in his tracks and refused to go any closer. “Hey there,” Jason greeted the tired-looking woman working the information desk. “I was looking for a new arrival... uh, Mrs Taylor. I think she arrived a couple of hours ago, came by ambulance.”

She looked at him, sceptically. “What is your relation to Mrs Taylor? Only family members are allowed to visit at this time of night.”

“Oh, uh, I’ve got no relation,” Jason rubbed the back of his neck and pointed with his thumb behind him and at Zack, who was shuffling his feet and wringing his hands, looking very small and very scared indeed. “I’m here with her son. He’s really worried, and he doesn’t know where she is or what happened. Uh... I think he called the ambulance. Can you give me the room number, please?”

There was a tense moment where she looked between Jason, then back towards Zack, then back again, but finally she looked down at her desk and flicked through her papers for a moment before, “Room 406, down the hall, take a left, should be the third room on the right-hand side.”

“Thank you,” Jason said as he pushed away from the desk and marched back to Zack, who looked like he was on the verge of a mental breakdown. “Look, I’ll walk you to the room, but I don’t think they’ll let me in. Are you going to be alright?”

Zack looked at Jason with wide, frightened eyes, like a wounded deer caught in the headlights of a speeding car. “Jason, I don’t... I don’t know if I can do it. What if...”

“Hey, you can’t think like that,” Jason said as he grabbed Zack’s arm on one side and gently rubbed his back in smooth circles with his free hand and slowly began leading him towards the room. “You’ll be fine. She’ll be there, just like she always is, and you’ll have nothing to worry about. And even if... even if you _are_ too late, I’ll be right outside the door. OK?”

Before they knew it, they were at the door that the desk nurse had told them, and Jason waited for Zack to make the first move, so he didn’t push. “Come on, man, you can do it,” he encouraged softly. “You’re a Power Ranger. You can face anything, even this. And remember, I’m right outside, and if you need me, I’ll be right next to you faster than you can say ‘Jason Lee Scott’, alright? And I doubt the others will be too far behind.”

Nodding, Zack shook out his arms as if psyching himself up for the task at hand and let in a slow, deep breath. “I’m the Black Ranger,” he said quietly so only Jason could hear. “I can do anything. I’ve faced worse than this. This is nothing.”

And then he was gone and into the room before Jason could blink, the door swinging shut behind him and blocking off Jason’s view of the inside.

Relieved yet worried, Jason sat down on the cushioned bench beside the room and pulled out his phone. Doctors and nurses came and went, none of them paying much attention to him, and he couldn’t hear any screaming and panicking from inside the room, so Jason thought that at least Zack’s mum was still alive.

_Hey_, he sent into the Power Rangers group chat, labelled subtly by the five corresponding coloured hearts. _Is anyone awake?_

_I am,_ Kim’s reply came through on a delay. The wifi at the hospital must not have been very good, though Jason wasn't sure what he expected.

_Me too,_ said Trini, _is everything ok? You’ve sort of gone radio silent since this morning._

Jason scrolled through the rest of the chat since his last message, and he realized that the remaining three Rangers had been talking for the rest of the day. Jason hadn’t even known he’d received messages. _Yeah, sorry about that,_ he sent, _don’t freak out, but I’m at the hospital with Zack._

_Are you ok?_ Was Billy’s first message. _I just woke up. What happened? What am I missing?_

_What the hell Jason!_ Kim sent. Jason could almost imagine her actually screaming that at him. _Why the hell didn’t you tell us? Hang on, I’m going to call you._

_No, don’t,_ Jason sent quickly. _I’m fine, so is Zack. But his mums not doing too well. I drove him down here and now I’ve just giving them some time alone. It was really bad for a while there. I just wanted to give you guys an update just in case Zack’s a little off for the next few days._

_Should we come down there?_ Trini asked. _Moral support and all that? Do you think that would help?_

_What if I bring gifts?_ Kim added.

Jason wasn’t sure- he knew that Zack would appreciate the company and knew that he loved the Rangers like family, but he wasn’t sure if them being there so soon after his world nearly crashed and burned in the span of a few hours would be a good idea.

Thankfully, Billy came to his rescue and replied before Jason had the chance too. _Not today. The first day is the worst. Even if everyone is alright and she’s still alive, the shock isn’t good. I think we should go tomorrow if he’s feeling up for it._

Of course, Billy would know. Jason mentally chided himself for not asking him at the beginning. _Good idea, Billy. I’ll take care of him tonight, but I’ll bring him to the ship tomorrow. Even if he doesn’t train with us, I’m sure he’ll enjoy the company._

_I can live with that, _said Kim.

_Alright_, was Trini’s reply. _Well, let us know if you need anything_.

_I will, goodnight,_ Jason sent before putting his phone away. He felt new messages come through, but he decided that he would check them later.

By the time things started to happen, Jason was half asleep with his hands crossed over his chest and his head resting on the wall behind him. He was woken by a hand on his arm, and a soft yet desperate, “_Jason_.” When he opened his eyes he was met by a much brighter and happier looking Zack, clinging onto Jason’s arm. Behind them, doctors entered and exited the room.

“Is everything ok?” Jason asked, sitting up so fast he actually made himself lightheaded. “How is she?”

“She’s fine,” Zack said, almost as if he couldn’t believe it himself. Jason felt his shoulders relax and realized how tense and worried he had been the whole time. “They say she should be home by the end of the week. She’s sleeping now.”

Nodding, Jason reached out and rested a hand on Zack’s shoulder. “Good. That’s good. Do you need a lift home?”

Shaking his head, Zack waved his hand at the bench Jason was previously sitting on. “I’m going to sleep here tonight, just in case. Besides, the trailer park is pretty far away. I don’t think it’s worth it. I’ll be fine.”

“Nonsense,” Jason scoffed as he made sure he had his things and started walking back towards the elevator. Zack hurried to follow him. “Don’t be ridiculous. You can stay with me tonight if you’re worried about the distance- my house isn’t too far away. My parents won’t mind you staying, and they certainly won’t mind me taking the week off of school do drive you down here whenever you need to.”

Zack looked like he was on the verge of collapse. Maybe it was the exhaustion catching up to him, or maybe he just thought that Jason was insane. Maybe a little bit of both. “Jason, no, you really don’t have to do that.” He grabbed Jason’s arm and spun him around to face him, stopping him in his tracks. “You’ve already done so much for us already.”

Jason took a deep, calming breath, and reached forward so he could place both his hands on Zack’s shoulders. “Look, Zack. I’m not doing this because I feel obligated to; I’m doing this because I want to. I want to help because I care about you. If any of the others were here instead of me, you would be having the same conversation, except the girls probably wouldn’t be taking no for an answer. I'm doing this, as a friend, a leader, and a brother. Alright? So why don’t you let me take care of you for a few days and then we can go back as if this never happened.” He paused at the look on Zack’s face. “You can refuse, you know. Don’t agree just to make me happy.”

For a moment they just stood there together in the middle of the hospital hallway, and Jason honestly wasn’t sure which way Zack was going to go, but eventually, he nodded. “Yeah, yeah, alright. I’ll go to your place. Sure.”

Jason led him out of the hospital, pausing at the desk to give his number to the new nurse manning it and to call him if there were any changes, and almost carried Zack back to the car where he drove him home as fast as the roads would let him.

When Jason explained the situation to his parents, Beverly had immediately searched for the blow-up mattress and Sam had tried to help Jason make his room suitable for two people, and Pearl distracted Zack by forcing him to play with her dolls and colour in her new, favourite Power Rangers Colouring Book that Jason had brought for her. He doubted she knew what was going on or why the tensions were so high in the house but that she was just glad that she finally had someone new to play with.

Later that night, when Zack was passed out and snoring on the blow up mattress on the floor of Jason’s bedroom after a very long day, Jason finally checked his phone for the first time since the hospital, and was met by three messages from three different Rangers. Billy had sent a blue heart, Trini a yellow one and Kim a pink one. Their new way of saying ‘I love you’ without actually saying the words.

Smiling, Jason sent through his own red heart and took solace in the fact that when Zack woke up, the first thing he would do was send through a black one, and then the moment they knew he was awake, their family would converge on his house like a flock of very determined pigeons caught in a hurricane to make sure their little found family of rag-tag delinquents was made whole again.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know about everyone else's phones, but mine has a black, blue, pink, red and yellow heart emoji, so that's what I used as a base of connecting for that whole bit
> 
> (Also, does anyone know how to put italics in the summary?? I've seen people do it many times before but I can't actually figure out how to do it myself. I think that the summary for this work would have been much better if I could have separated Zack's text from the rest of the summary.)


End file.
